1981 Bass Tracker II

[altimas]

I lucked up and a buddy thought of me when they decided to get rid of his grandfather's old Bass Tracker. They kept it in a boat house on a lift and only ran it about once a year. They didn't have a trailer for it and just wanted it out of the boat house. I made an offer on it and told them they could probably get more for it from someone else, but that was all I had. They accepted my offer and I was getting a boat!!

I tried borrowing, renting, and Alabama rigging a trailer up to get the boat home and had no luck. So I posted a want add on craigslist and had a guy email me that would take 150.00 for the trailer he had in the yard. It was adjustable and I knew I could make it work for the boat. I checked the outside of the tires and they looked fine, so I took it home. When I got home I looked it over a lot better and noticed there were some sidewall cracks in the back. With as hot as it was I didn't want to chance bringing it home on those tires. So I went ahead and bought some new ones.

Big day finally came and me and my buddy went to pick up the boat.



Got the boat home with no issues. Was surprised how good of a shape it was in. Nothing was rotted. Only thing wrong was the Nav lights on the front weren't working and the windshield was cracked. Navigation lights were an easy fix. Here's the boat in the garage.





From what I can tell from the Hull ID # it's a 1981 Bass Tracker II. Then the motor is a Mercury Classic Fifty 45 HP motor. Not sure what year is on the motor.

Decided to work on the trailer and repaint it and put new hardware on it, but first I had to get the boat off of it...



My Uncle did the same thing with his Ranger so I knew it would work, but it was kinda scary lifting it up in the air like that.

Pulled the trailer out.



Stripped everything off of it.



Started Priming it.




Then a monsoon came and I had to retreat to the garage where I decided to go ahead and replace the water pump.




It was easier than I thought dropping the LU, but putting it back up there, even with my brother's help, was a pain in the neck. Put new LU Lube in there and was good to go.

Did get the trailer flipped over and and finishing the underside of it, then I will start painting it black.




Modified by altimas at 8:35 AM 8/4/2010

[catfishkid]

Congrats on the new boat!

looking good, keep us updated on your work.

[Big Bass Man]

[bassan30]

keep up the good work looks good

[Neubs24]

http://www.tinboats.net, they have a lot of info for rigs like this too

[ranger230v]

Nice, You've just experienced ONE of the TWO happiest days of boat ownership. Enjoy

[.:{KC}:.]

Great find!

[Fishinjunky]

FINALLY !!!!!! Someone is fixing up a tin boat. You should look into "Shark Hide", it will make that boat shine like a mirror with little effort.

Here isa link you might be interested in. http://www.sharkhide.com/

Oh yeah !!!............and for as much trouble that you went to clean and prime that trailer, you should think about the DIY bed liner. There are some post on here that will give you some idea of the ease that it is applied and how much more tougher it is than paint (not to mention low maintence). Look in the "BLING" foru........CHECK THIS OUT http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=549342

Good luck !!!

[ChrisH]

thats awesome LeAlan. you might want to make those bunks flatter when you put them back on so there is more surface area on the bottom of the boat when its on the trailer. looks like you got a great deal.

[altimas]

Finished painting it black last night, but by the time I was done it was to dark for a picture.. I plan on adjusting the bunks to be flat. The brackets are adjustable so it shouldn't be a problem. Thought about putting diamond plate on two areas in front of and behind the fender wells, but then I saw the cost of diamond plate. Probably just do plywood and carpet it.

Hopefully can re-carpet the bunks this weekend and get the boat back on the trailer. Gotta get the tags, the batteries, life jackets, tie down straps, and a motor toter and I should be ready to get it wet!!

Gonna fish it like it is until probably Nov or Dec and then I'll put in the back deck and depending on how long that takes and the cost can start on the front deck too.

[ChrisH]

dont price diamond plate at Lowes. call a machine shop

[altimas]

Okay what do I use to glue the carpet to the bunks?
Also running the new wiring, any good tips for a C-Channel trailer like this? Run it through Conduit or something?

[Landinlunkers]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by altimas &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Okay what do I use to glue the carpet to the bunks?
</td></tr></table>

Stainless steel staples.

[altimas]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Landinlunkers &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

Stainless steel staples.</td></tr></table>

Just on the bottom side right?

[Landinlunkers]

Yep

[Luke]

first boat i had was an '84 Bass Tracker II...mine had a 40hp merc on it.
the boat i have now that was my dads has the Classic 50 45hp with trim...strong running motor. good luck with the resto

[bigGUNS04]

[Fiddlefarter]

my channel trailer has rings made in it to run wire through. I squirted silicon in the rings so the wire won't rub. It was sagging in 1 or 2 spots so I shot a glob of silicon on it to hold it in place.

Nice boat. i would like to have one. My uncle one just like it but he repowered in the early 90's with a Yamaha. My other uncle has like an 85 or so and it looks like it just rolled out of the factory. He has fished out of it a couple times a week Oct through May since he bought it. Sometimes 6-7 days a week when the crappie are biting good. But he is just probably the most particular person on Earth and has kept it very well maintained and redone it once. I imagine it is a lot better built than when he bought it

[altimas]

Academy had some clips so I used those for the wiring and got it finished tonight. When I hooked up my truck one side of the lights weren't working. So I backed my brothers truck up to it and it all worked fine. So I guess check my fuses and my connector on my truck? Hopefully get the bunks re-carpeted this weekend and I'll be done with the trailer.

[Fiddlefarter]

You got a Ford? If you do check the fuse box up under the hood.